Matt

How hard is it to plaster a wall? I have a low budget and i want to give it a go.

Hope someone can advise me.

Thanks

Mat
Kitchens Kitchen Doors

glennjanie

Hello Mat:
Plastering is an art but it can be learned. If you could visit a construction site and watch professionals for a while you could learn a tremendous amount. It is one of those jobs that pros make look shamefully easy but I might not be able to even get started. In other words "there's nothing to it if you know how to do it."
Plastering is done in two coats, the scratch coat and the finish coat. The scratch is grey in color and has much more cement in it, while the finish coat contains more lime and other whiteners along with finer sand to make a smooth finish.
One of the key objectives to plaster is the exact mixture and moisture; the mixture can be bought in bags and the moisture should be lightly crumbly when squeezed in your hand, not total disentergration just crumbly. Place it on a hod and use a 12" or so trowell to squeeze it onto the wall starting from the bottom and sliding up. There are metal spacers you can use to regulate the thickness 1/2" to 3/4" then remove them and trowell over the lines. A spray bottle will be handy for subsequent trowelling in spots that may dry prematurely.
You can also buy the finish coat in bags and use metal screeds to apply it rather thin (1/8" to 1/4"). The finish coat will need to be trowelled 2 or 3 times to make it smooth and stick well to the scratch coat.
I hope you can find some help in all this and that you can see a professional working. You will see much of what I have talked about used by a pro. I wish you the best on your project, please post pictures of it.
Glenn

inspectorD

Good thing about plaster is....you can screw up and get it right the next time, usually with no repercussions.
Try a closet first and see how it comes out. Everyone has a crack in the closet right?!!!

That's how the professionals start out...least conspicuous spot first.

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